NiNES: A Broken Galaxy

@Sym- Yeah, I didn't notice until you did either. And I just came up with an IC explanation that your scan had noticed them while mine hadn't.

To: USC
From: Huris

No apology was necessary, we apparently misunderstood your motives apparently. We thank you greatly and will take over the aid effort immediately.

Man my fleet in Kruger is has an ichy trigger finger. I better wrap this investigation up quickly.

Story to come soon.

Cleric, we need to do a wee chat - get on MSN.

The launch of the PS Razor went off with very little fuss. The crew came aboard, the hangar was partially dismantled and opened, the ground parts were launched into orbit, where the remainder from the orbital shipyard at Benalia was swiftly put together with it. Technically, less than one-third of the ship had actually launched, but it was still a good ceremony, and it went off smoothly.

The great fuss came when Prault showed up!

Prault, hero of the underclass, madman, instigator of riots, eternal opposition to most of what the Governancy might be doing, and general charismaticist, was leading thousands of protesters towards the hangar/construction site/military base where the most noticeable bit of the PS Razor had taken off. At least, it was assumed that he was leading, since he wasn't visible at the forefront, but several of the protesters were chanting his name, and one was carrying a sign saying simply "Prault is right!". Other slogans read:
the Razor at your Throat
Primus inter Pares, not Domination
Build Satellites, not Sovereignity

"Well, vack." said the Chief of Security on site. "It's a smaller protest than what he's gathered before, but it's somehow completely escaped our notice." He ordered the workers to evacuate and moved his forces to block the protest. "Let's see. Three hundred of us. About five thousand of them?"

The protest continued to advance, heading towards a guardpost and its attached wall/fence. Several security officers were already present or converging. "Nonlethal only", said the Chief of Security over the communication band. "This is over our heads, I'm calling military reinforcements."

At the guardpost, the protesters had failed to gain entry through the main door due to large amounts of sleep gas and nonlethal weaponry stunning perhaps a hundred of their number all told. They were now trying to break down the wall, something which would only suceed if they had heavy rocket launchers or the like.

Which they apparently did, as the wall shuddered heavily and bent inward for a moment before straightening again in a disturbingly organic fashion. The Chief of Security started calling his troops back and instead patched into the SAM missile batteries. He entered his personal key, was challenged, entered it again, and overrode the safety margins for arc of fire.

As the protest broke through the wall, the missiles batteries began laying down suppressive fire in a semicircle around the breach, about a hundred meters away from Prault's little riot. It spilled through, spread for a few moments, then halted uncertainly. The group mind always present in such mobs seemed to think that while it wouldn't be fired on, the weapon batteries wouldn't stop firing. It was probably best to pull out of here and regroup. As the protest started squeezing back through the wall, a volley of nonlethal fire from the guardhouse impacted into one side of it, making it stumble severely.

The army arrived a minute later. A leaf-shaped ship screamed overhead, ejecting some things onto the protest. One of the falling objects fell faster than the others, hurtling towards the protest. It exploded ten meters above their heads. A wave seemed to ripple through the assembled throng, and most of it collapsed. The remainder fled and scattered as the guards charged forward to make mass arrests together with the twenty elite paratroopers who were calmly stunning the runaways.

"Hey, I think this is Prault himself."
"Ooh, nice find. He'll probably get five years for this."
"How much damage did they do, really? The wall's easy to fix."
"Vack it, this is Chessa Bilaire!"
"Arrest her, I say. We can't go giving anyone special treatment at a place like this."
"Has anyone found the rocket launcher yet?"
"Nope. Sure it wasn't explosives?"
"The wall neuters explosives, kid. And they don't have the coordination to use shielded explosives when rioting like this."

Story bonuses and trades are up. PMs hopefully later tonight.

BananaLee said:

Cleric, we need to do a wee chat - get on MSN.

Click to expand...

Well I was on...but you were nowhere to be found.

It was morning. The skies were blue, the sun was bright, and it almost seemed there was a spring in the Consul’s step as he walked from his desk to the window, soaking in the morning. It had been a long time since there had been a day like this. There had been incessant rain for the last month, to match his dubious workload. Having a moment to catch his breath and enjoy the sights was a rare and much appreciated luxury. He just sat there for a moment, thinking of nothing at all. He probably would have stood there all day were it not for his secretary. She stuck her head in the door.

“Sir, we just received a dispatch from Huris.”

“Very well, put it onscreen.” Slowly, he turned from the window to the holoscreen glowing above his desk. An image of William Enseth, the new Autarch of Huris, shimmered into existence.

“Greetings, Consul. My name, if you don’t already know, is William Enseth. As you have heard, Timas Minell has left his position in government to travel the galaxy, as politics had been hard on him these last few years. He has left me in charge until the next elections. I’m contacting you to assure you that nothing has changed between our nations. Our relations and friendship still hold true, as do our peaceful policies. We pray that our two nations will continue to enjoy mutual benefits from our good relations, and that we may progress forward into history.

I thank you for your time and wish you well in the future. I look forward to working with you very much. For now, however, this is goodbye.”

The screen went blank, and Mica got to thinking. There was something to William, a certain…charm. He was the fall-guy for pretty much everything that went wrong in Huris at the moment, and he seemed to be handling it quite well. Mica didn’t know if he could take such criticism, even with expanded executive authority. Yes, this Enseth character had potential.

“Computer” he suddenly said, “Get me contact with the Autarch of Huris.”

….contacting….

The screen suddenly shifted from the standard Emerald Eagle insignia to a view of the Autarch himself, seemingly in his private study. There were books and a computer in view, as well as a window view of snowcapped mountains. He looked puzzled.

“Hello?...”

“Autarch! Good to see you. I’m Consul Aaron Mica, of the Confederation of Kalia, but you already know that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. I do believe I just sent you a diplomatic dispatch introducing myself, what business do you have with me?”

“Business? No, not business. This a fully private conversation. I just wanted to get to know the new Autarch better as a person, and to see how you’re holding up lately. I understand there’s been some nasty business with Lacaille?”

William sighed. “Yes, a bit of a mess. I know it wasn’t a very good PR move, but I felt it was more important to be honest than to look good. I’m dealing with the situation…it’s just…well, it’s a lot to deal with.”

“I fully understand” Mica replied. “You’ve got a lot on your plate, and you’re standing in a rather long shadow. The Senate is on your back, as well as the leaders of half the galaxy. I’m impressed you’ve been holding up so well.”

William smiled a bit at this. “Why thank you. I do what I can, and hopefully I’ll be able to break out of that shadow and forge my own destiny.”

Mica nodded knowingly. “Yes indeed, the people can be fickle, they can be irrational. They always think they know best, but often times they don’t fully realize what is in their best interests. Now I don’t mean that in a power-hungry dictatorial way…” he shot a humorous, sidelong glance at the Autarch, “…but indeed undue criticism is common.

My suggestion, just relax every once in a while. Find yourself a hobby. Take a walk in the woods, or maybe spend some time alone on one of your rocky monoliths. Staying in the office too long yellows your complexion, wears on your health, and withers the soul. The responsibility for huge numbers of people weighs heavy. Taking a load off every once in a while can help you serve them. If you’re not at your best, working at full capacity, then you’re really not doing as much as you could.”

“Thank you, Consul. I will remember that. Thank you also for your time.”

“No, no, thank you. I’ve been in government so long that I was beginning to lose hope in any kind of morals or vibrance in the position. You my friend have given me a bit of hope, something to smile about now and then. You’re doing just fine.”

The screen went blank again. Thus was the dilemma with government, or one of them. So much stress, so much responsibility, so much time amongst people of diverging paradigms and philosophies, often changes a man. They become less than they once were, less courageous, less sharp, more likely to succumb to pressure. It happened with the Emperors of Rome. It happened to the Presidents of America. It still happened today. Perhaps, though, just maybe, this vicious cycle of ability, hope, change, and despair can end.

Dilemma indeed…

Admiral on Deck piped the computer AI on the bridge, as Admiral Cortes entered the bridge of the cruiser Saratoga. The bridge’s officer staff, came to attention and gave a quick salute to the admiral. The fleet was near ready to set on its first combat mission since its inception.

“Admiral, preparations are complete.” Said Captain Dom Uskith, “Shall I yield?”

“Negative. I will take flag.” Cortes responded. Normally, a ship only had need for one, simple, bridge. However, the Saratoga was the flagship of the largest Sezuren fleet, the situs of the highest ranked admiral in the navy. Thus, the ship’s bridge had been modified to accommodate both the normal bridge staff, responsible for the ship itself, and the flag staff, the admiral, who gave orders for the fleet as a whole. The system was designed to allow the admiralty to concentrate on strategy of the fleet, and the captain to concentrate on the ship itself.

Cortes stepped up the small set of stairs to the flag bridge. The flag bridge was above and behind the normal bridge, giving Cortes a view of the entire bridge. While the flag bridge had chairs to sit in, the central piece was a large holograph table, which gave the topographical and strategic information of the system, and fleet. There were several other officers who worked on the flag bridge, and they likewise saluted the Admiral as he stepped up to his bridge.

“All ships report ready.” Said one assistant, updating Cortes on the preparation of the fleet.

“Excellent, relay orders to move through the gate, and to form up according to plan alpha.” Cortes moved over to and strapped himself into his command chair, preparing for the jump process.

“Orders acknowledged.”

“Captain.” Cortes said loudly so Uskith could hear him on the lower level, “Saratoga will take the lead. You may make transit.”

The fleet began moving towards the massive warpgate, with the cruiser leading the way. The ships entered the gate one-by-one and appeared on the other side in the Arcturas system. “All ships accounted for, taking formation.” An aide said as a few minutes after the cruiser had transited.

Cortes got out of his chair and leaned over the table, looking at the data before him. Of primary concern were the ships, each indicated by an icon on a three-dimensional map. A overlay of known defensive batteries was also shown, their status, and known weapons.

“Alright. Let us begin.”

To: USC
From: Emergents
We would like to inquire about the possibility of purchasing Cost-Optimal Design.

Cleric said:

Well I was on...but you were nowhere to be found.

Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I don't even have your MSN it seems. Mine is on my profile.

BananaLee said:

Funnily enough, I don't even have your MSN it seems. Mine is on my profile.

Click to expand...

I have you on mine so you must have mine. I'm Kozmos.

As some of you may have noticed , PMs are still not out. It's really a mess that I couldn't finish all parts of the update during the weekend (there's a reason for why the deadline is set to Thursday after all). I still haven't given up hope on getting them out tonight, but even if I do it's getting awfully close to Thursday again. So, regardless of whether you get PMs today or tomorrow, the deadline will be postponed to

Saturday, 10:00 AM GMT​

I will then do a very serious attempt to have the update up the same day, and PMs out on Sunday, so that the schedule can then go back to normal, without a lost step (merely a small stumble).

Don't worry or push yourself too hard. We're happy enough with the NES and your updates that I'm sure we'll all be willing to wait longer on a regular basis should that ever become necessary. RL does come first, after all.

@Niklas- Could I get a response for the message to the native population of Lacaille?

@iggy, could I get a response for the message for the THING which is in no way related to your nes?

Um, yeah. Not interested in your tech trade ATM.

Lord_Iggy said:

@Niklas- Could I get a response for the message to the native population of Lacaille?

Click to expand...

I've got quite some NPC diplo to do, but I'll do PMs first.

Alex, I'mm reply to the trade after I get my PM.

PMs are out, finally. The deadline for Saturday stands. Phew.

Thanks for the PM Nik!

EDIT: OTL, an earthlike planet has been discovered around Gliese. Thing I just heard on the radio.